Eight months after her final newscast at WNBC, Sue Simmons opens up about being cut from the New York City NBC O&O in an extensive interview with our sister site, FishbowlNY. Simmons discusses the cutbacks at the station and her friendship with former co-anchor Chuck Scarborough, as well as the emotional turmoil of losing her seat at the anchor desk:

“The last several months from March to June was pretty much a nightmare for me,” Simmons admits. “Because after you’ve worked with your teams and your friends for that long it’s very difficult to come to terms with the fact that it’s not going to be anymore.”

Simmons adds that there was no bitterness as she began the “farewell tour” at WNBC. “How would you complain about 32 years at one job, in television, in New York City, and being part of the longest running anchor team in New York’s history?”

If it were her choice, Simmons says viewers would still be watching Chuck Scarborough and her each night. Read more

Just three months after her departure from WNBC, Sue Simmons is speaking out about the NBC O&O’s decision not to renew her contract.

“It wasn’t so all of a sudden. I had an inkling,” Simmons said in an interview with Joy Behar that will air Tuesday night on Current TV. “But somewhere along the line there were mixed signals, and I didn’t think it was going to end, and it did.”

Simmons, 70, talked with Behar about her replacement, Shiba Russell, as well as her reported salary and her former co-anchor, Chuck Scarborough.

“They kept him. Why?” Behar asked Simmons. Read more

Sue Simmons, who was ousted at WNBC earlier this year after three decades at the NBC O&O, is returning to the television business.

The New York Post reports Simmons will guest star on the two-part season premiere of NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” as a reporter named, naturally, Sue Simmons.

The show’s executive producer, Warren Leight, told the Post that Simmons was the first person who came to mind when the part was being cast.  “Any time Sue wants to come back, it would be fun to have her on,” he said. “She’s a real pro. Everyone in New York has a great affection for her.” Read more

Natalie Morales is the preferred pick to replace Ann Curry on NBC’s “Today” show, at least among TVSpy readers.

According to a recent TVSpy poll, posted last week amid reports that Curry was leaving “Today,” Morales is the top choice, followed very closely by Savannah Guthrie, who many believe will ultimately replace Curry.

The poll listed five choices as Curry’s replacement.  In addition to Morales and Guthrie, there was Hoda Kotb, Robin Roberts, and Sue Simmons.  Simmons, who recently left WNBC after more than three decades at the anchor desk there, was the sentimental favorite, coming in third place with 20.29% of the votes. Read more

For the first time in over three decades, WNBC debuted a new main anchor team this week, and it seems like the station is hoping that viewers don’t notice.

When Shiba Russell made her debut as Sue Simmons‘s replacement on Monday, there was no mention of the anchor change. And then on Tuesday, the station ran a chyron at the top of the newscast that introduced Russell as “Sue Simmons.” On Wednesday night, there was no chyron at 11:00 (image above).

It’s almost as if WNBC is trying to trick viewers into thinking Sue Simmons never left.

On Tuesday night, as Shiba Russell, Simmons’s replacement, anchored her second 11 p.m. newscast alongside Chuck Scarborough, the station ran a chyron at the top of the show (above) that identified Russell as “Sue Simmons.” Read more

On Friday, WNBC marked the end of an era: after 32 years, Sue Simmons anchored her final newscast at the station. On Monday, as Shiba Russell assumed Simmons’s longtime spot next to Chuck Scarborough, it was business as usual, right down to Scarborough’s tie and pocket square.

WNBC made no mention of the anchor change during Russell’s first 11 p.m. newscast Monday. And, in what was either a wardrobe oversight or a crafty way to smooth the transition from Simmons to Russell, Scarborough appeared to be wearing the exact same outfit, down to the bright pink pocket square, on Monday night as he did Friday. Read more

In a move that many have anticipated since she joined the station last year, Shiba Russell is replacing Sue Simmons on WNBC‘s 11 p.m. newscast.

During a monthly staff meeting that took place this morning, WNBC president and general manager Michael Jack announced that, “effective today, Shiba Russell will be expanding her responsibilities to include the 11 p.m. news.”

Russell has been co-anchoring WNBC’s weekday 5 p.m. newscast alongside Tom Llamas. At 11, she’ll pair with Simmons’s longtime co-anchor Chuck Scarborough, who recently had his contract renewed for another three years. Read more

Throughout her final newscast on WNBC, legendary New York anchor Sue Simmons made it clear that she didn’t want to leave.

Following a day of video tributes to her, the moment finally came Friday night: Simmons would anchor her last newscast at WNBC, ending a 32-year run at NBC’s flagship station. And she did it with the same humor and unpredictability that have endeared her to so many viewers.

At times during the 11 p.m. newscast, Chuck Scarborough, Simmons’s longtime co-anchor, whose dapper outfit for the occasion was punctuated with a bright pink pocket square, looked like a nervous parent teaching his kid to drive–he was ready to grab the wheel when it appeared that Simmons may veer the newscast in a regrettable direction. Read more

With New York icon Sue Simmons set to anchor her final newscast at WNBC tonight, Jack Cafferty, her former “Live at Five” co-anchor, says that the on-air bloopers she’s notorious for are integral to her legacy.

While WNBC has been tight-lipped about Simmons’s final newscast this week, FishbowlNY got in touch with Cafferty, who’s now with CNN.

“Her ‘bloopers’ are a part of who she is. This is New York, after all,” Cafferty told FishbowlNY. “The only people who will hold them against her are the ‘suits,’ who, in my experience, tend to be humorless.” Read more